There is a vast amount of misinformation and misunderstanding when it comes to the term 'peak oil' and the topic tends to bring out visceral reactions from both sides of the argument. Try to set aside your preconceived notions and read with an open mind.

The topic raised here is what is known as Peak Oil. 'Peak oil' is mostly known as the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This can easily be seen on individual oil wells and the concept is easily broadened based on projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field of related oil wells. Peak Oil in a simple sense means that oil resources on the planet are finite and that there will come a point in time when one day less oil will be extracted than on the previous day. And the following day even less. And so on, no matter how much exploration is done, no matter how efficient the new extraction technologies developed. There will come a point when less and less oil is available for the industrialized societies of the planet. Oil production will have 'peaked'. In past decades there has been much debate about when global oil would peak, whether it already had peaked and we were declining already, or whether we were going to imminently hit the peak. Of course, all these people missed the point, and ended up getting much of the story wrong which is why so many have such varying opinions on the subject.

Many people in the peak oil movement from the 1970's through the early 2000's who talked about peak oil equated it to the end of cheap plentiful oil. They said that the peak would mean that there would be less and less oil available at a time when there was more and more demand. This would, they said, make prices skyrocket. Less availability meant price shocks that would only go upwards forever. Of course, reality has proven to be more complex.

Today, by contrast, we have been swimming in cheap oil for years (2014-2017, so far). So much so that there was, for a little while there, a worldwide 'glut.' In reality, global production of conventional oil peaked in 2005. Only unconventional oil, combined with conventional, has pushed the oil peak further afield. To be more specific, a combination of massive debt and new technologies have given us this breathing room. The unconventional oil that we have gone so in debt to acquire notoriously provides a small fraction of the net energy we've come to expect from conventional oil sources [link]. But while it will be enough to confuse those less educated about peak oil, it will not be enough to escape the dire consequences.

​On the production side looking forward, a 2017 HSBC report concluded that total oil production has now peaked in over 81% of all oil-producing countries on the planet. The report's most shocking finding is that just to keep production flat against increasing decline rates, the world will need to add four Saudi Arabia’s worth of production by 2040. North American unconventional production, despite remaining the most promising in terms of potential, will simply not even be close to being able to fill this gap.

On the debt side of the equation looking forward, a 2016 Deloitte report showed that over 35 percent of independent oil companies worldwide declared bankruptcy that year, with another 30 percent projected to follow in 2017 - leaving only about 1/3rd standing by 2018.

A recent SRSrocco Report showed the story for the big names in oil with a few graphs:

And the Hills Group put out this very interesting chart:

The reason the above chart is so interesting is that it means that virtually every oil producing country in the world requires a much higher oil price to balance its budget – some of them vastly so (i.e. Venezuela) because their oil does not have the net energy it once did and so does not buy the economic growth it once did. Their economies have been designed around oil, which for many of them is their largest source of income. We see Venezuela engulfed in economic meltdown even though they sit atop such vast amounts of oil and ask ourselves why. The answer is that the oil there is of such low quality that it cannot generate any economic activity - the debt required to extract it outweighs the economic growth it would generate. In other words, it does not provide enough net energy. It appears that not a single oil-producing country is balancing its budget. Their debts are growing bigger every day.

​Peak oil is not about running out of oil. It never has been. It is about production that is limited by technology, economic viability, and EROEI (energy return on energy invested). There are two things we have to understand: availability and net energy. Oil has become, and will forever continue to be, more energy intensive to extract and refine as well as more expensive to do so. And what is left will forever continue to give less and less net energy because of this. If you don't understand this, then you don't understand peak oil whatsoever. If you do understand this, then you understand why we must start thinking about what the future will look like. We are seeing a new world take shape, and quickly. Old denials about peak oil must be abandoned so a new vision of the future more in line with reality can take its place.

Very nice article clearing the cocept of peak oil with very good supporting information.
Not actually related with this article but a question came to my mind that whether oil doomsday is sooner than what we expected ?

It depends on what you mean by "doomsday." I've written two other articles that touch on this subject that you might want to read:
What Will The Future Look Like? and
Preparing

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Dennis Mitchell

5/20/2017 01:06:50 pm

I've been wondering about the corporations that have run on debt. They operate for years without any profit. Seems more than just oil running on hope.

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liila baum

7/13/2017 02:01:08 pm

Vondefull!

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Johnny

7/20/2017 06:00:03 am

Peak oil is an interesting concept, but isn't it a bit past its prime? Jimmy proclaimed running out back in the late 80's, Colin Campbell proclaimed peak oil around 1990 (and then did it a bunch of other times), and then Ruppert said it happened maybe in 2000, SImmons and Deffeyyes called it for 2005, the IEA 2006, TOD 2008, and Ron Patterson did it again for 2015....it is almost as though the game isn't to declare A peak oil, but how many of them there might be in total before we run out.

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Vincent

8/6/2017 04:38:56 am

Johnny > Peak oil is an interesting concept, but isn't it a bit past its prime ?

Au contraire : As shown in the article, production* of conventional oil peaked in 2005, and non-conventional oil is not a valid alternative, whether it's volume or price.

And since no realistic alternative to oil for transport will be available in the near future… expect economic stagnation followed by decline. Hence the expression "Peak Oil = Peak Everything".

Non-conventional oil is going into gas tanks of cars, and engines in jet aircraft, and diesel fuel into diesel electric trains all across America, so I am not sure why you say it is not a valid alternative? It already has proven it is, and if you are American as I am, we have both proven this down at the individual level.

And about that "no realistic alternative to oil for transport"...you must mean, except for commuters like my wife who quite enjoys the quiet and clean commute to work in an EV, the further advantage to which includes premium parking spots and EV charging stations for all employees who own one. She really enjoys never going to a gas station ever again to buy that stinky, expensive liquid fuel stuff....half of which nowadays is made from that oil you just said isn't a valid alternative. If it wasn't for the hundreds of millions of Americans who use it anyway.

As to what these incongruities have to do with ex-KGB strongmen, anti-immigrant fears or American trade protectionism, I don't have a clue.

But finally, a point I understand. We do extract oil and natural gas, yes. As of late, quite a bit, and apparently in the near future, more than ever before even.

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=32192

Jeff Harbaugh

9/4/2018 06:00:18 am

How to survive the worldwide starvation crisis caused by Peak Oil;

"What can I do"?

According to the experts you should:
1. Garden with sustainable agriculture techniques (less pesticides and fertilizer (organic or better yet permaculture)).
2. Buy food and manufactured goods made locally
3. Pay down debt
4. Learn skills they will be useful in the future and make friends that have useful skills you don't have (related to providing food, water, shelter, and medical care. A necessary skill is organic/permaculture gardening/farming). Very important: medical plant and medical skills are the best way to ensure your survival. All others will gladly sacrifice their life to protect your life, so you are around to use your medical knowledge to keep their families alive.
5. I recommend to invest some money into technologies to increase the "carrying capacity" of the planet (high risk investments);
A. decrease environmental impact per capital
B. alternatives for our food system input to improve production
C. alternatives to our current living arrangements,
D. alternatives to our plastics industry,
E. alternatives to disaster capitalism
F. "Savior technologies", ie faster-than-light travel, "game changer" technologies, ie Cold fusion energy & "delaying technologies", ie deep drilling technologies.
6. I also recommend you inform and prepare your family, friends, and others. It is best to initially suggest people have an emergency kit... for any emergency such as flood, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, loss of electricity due to a winter storm. Then, if the friend or relative puts together a disaster kit, what I do is introduce Peak Oil (by telling them of the 43 second movie trailer http://m.natgeotv.com/ca/2210-thecollapse/videos/collapse-of-earth , the "National Geographic Collapse" movie on YouTube, & free book downloads;
7. For the truly motivated, a community based organization to mitigate Climate Change and Peak Oil is: http://www.transitionus.org/
(For non USA; https://transitionnetwork.org/)

Google "2052 free book summary download", & "Plan C".

See the Facebook page: "National Geographic Collapse movie"

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johnny

9/7/2018 07:41:02 am

Considering that the claim is that peak oil happened more than a decade ago now, dare I ask...where is the starvation? And if that is what "peak oil experts" are claiming (whatever that might be), perhaps they aren't the "experts" to be paying attention to at all?

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Jeff Harbaugh

9/7/2018 10:43:31 am

Peak conventional oil occurred in the past. Please become a member of the Facebook page Peak Oil.

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